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Tag Archives: cauliflower

There I was chopping veggies, getting things ready and the electricity goes out. My stove and oven are electric.

A massive power outage took out the electricity grid for most of the inner west of Sydney and then some. Who knew if it was going to come back on any time soon?

There was no telling when my husband was getting home – trains weren’t running on the line he catches.

I had bought a loaf of sourdough bread from the local bakery this morning so fresh bread slices with cheese and tomato would be a easy dinner to prepare in the dark.

However, the electricity did come back on with plenty of time to continue with my plan of making soup.

So…..

Chop up a head of cauliflower (mine ended up being about 600g), throw it into a large saucepan and then fill with water. Bring to the boil. Then turn the heat off and leave to sit for about 5 minutes and strain. (They’ll only be partially cooked at this stage)

In the same saucepan melt about 40g butter with 2 tbs olive oil. Add 1 large leek that you’ve washed and sliced very thinly. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes on a medium heat, then add 1 large diced potato and the cauliflower.

Top up with 2 cups of water and 2 cups of stock (I used beef because its all I had in the kitchen), cover, bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and allow to simmer for 15 – 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper (I love adding fennel seeds – about 1/2 tbs).

Once the veggies are tender, whizz up in a food processor, blender or with a stick blender. Taste, adjust seasoning.

Serve and eat.

Not many ingredients but full of flavour and because of the potato, it ends up being rich and creamy – no need to add any cream. Bonus.

Like this:

there is a little left over. not enough for a full meal for two but we’ll make it part of a meal.

I’m going to blanch 1/2 a small cauliflower, that i’ve cut into big chunks, in salted boiling water for about 4 minutes. then I’m going to drain it really well.

In a small saucepan, melt a tablespoon of butter on medium heat. add about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of plain flour and stir or whisk well for about 45 seconds to cook the flour. then slowly whisk in about 3/4 of a cup of milk. ( I use soy cause i like the flavour but any milk will do.) keep whisking until sauce is bubbling and thicker. take off the heat, add pinch of salt, pinch of pepper, 1/4 teaspoon curry powder and 1 fresh egg and whisk well to combine. taste and adjust the seasoning.

put the cauliflower in a small oven dish. pour the sauce over to cover. sprinkle some breadcrumbs on top ( I use panko breadcrumbs because they’re bigger crumbs ). bake in the oven 180c for about 30 minutes or until brownish on top.

You could sprinkle with grated cheese if you want. makes it richer.

this can also be made gluten free by using gluten free flour, curry powder and breadcrumbs.

I also like this with a roast or a piece of fresh cooked corned beef.

Anyway, I’ll be serving this with what’s left of the casserole from yesterday. maybe some warm crusty bread on the side.